mike...
if ya enlightened would not the brain be "washed" clean?.... the task is to remove the "brain washing by others and think and feel for oneself surely?..merle Merle, Aren't we all! Mike Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad ________________________________ From: Merle Lester <merlewiit...@yahoo.com>; To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com <Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com>; Subject: [Zen] look in your mirror Sent: Thu, May 23, 2013 3:40:53 AM mike..what do ya expect from the average americano... from what i can gather are all brain washed ...merle Joe, Is it true that a majority in the States believe the earth is less than 5000 years old? I've hear the teaching of Evolution gets a rough ride in schools over there - in both religious schools _and_ government schools. Scary. Mike Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad ________________________________ From: Joe <desert_woodwor...@yahoo.com>; To: <Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com>; Subject: [Zen] Re: [evol-psych] The correct statistics: Atheists are not more intelligent Sent: Wed, May 22, 2013 5:38:57 PM Mike, Considering how small a deal it is for me, I don't see how it can be much less consequential elsewhere; but, "Thus have I heard". It's true that many people in the States are too-literal interpreters of "The Book". It's shocking to me. Even my family -- and me, once -- as Catholics, were not literal interpreters, and neither were our Clergy. I think the nut-jobs are in the Protestant wing of the faith, because they choose to think independently and to protest against orthodoxy and authority, and so of course are FREE -- and have been free for centuries -- to come up with all sorts of wild interpretations, and entirely new Churches, and experimental lifestyles ...including the use of poisonous snakes in services, and a belief in Bishop Usher's cosmology and age of the Earth. You wouldn't find that stuff in our old Italian-American conservative parish! Keep in mind, too, Mike, that America was settled, and her Laws written, by immigrants who sought religious freedom, and not necessarily freedom from religion (say, the freedom to be atheists). So the profusion of "religious" drama in USA is woven into the territory. Personally I'd like to see Darwin on any US currency, front or back. I note that Darwin has not ever appeared even on a US postage stamp! Richard Wagner was never so honored here, yet, either: and TODAY is Wagner's 200th birthday, by the way (May 22). (Honus Wagner, a baseball player, was honored with a 33-cent stamp, issued in the year 2000). I reserve comment. --Joe > uerusuboyo@... wrote: > > Joe,<br/><br/>I wonder if its a bigger deal for you because you live in the > State? Your side of the pond not only has a larger population of religious > nut-jobs, but these zealots also hold positions of power and influence. Over > this side (and I include Europe and other Commonwealth countries), religion > is something kind of quaint and archaic (at least it was until the Jihadists > became more vocal). Case in point, most British politicians would be > kicked/laughed out of office if they denied evolution. Ah, did you know that > Charles Darwin is celebrated by having his portrait grace the back of a £10 > note? Imagine that in the US!